Kristian von Bengtson of Copenhagen Suborbitals is skeptical of the need for specialize training for people going on suborbital space flights: Why Training for a Suborbital Spaceflight is Just another Great Story at the Local Chesterfield Club – Wired Science/Wired.com.
I’ll note that there have usually been three reasons given for suborbital spaceflight training such as that provided at NASTAR Center:
- To insure that those with potential health issues, e.g. advanced age and cardiovascular problems, can do the flight safely
- To allow suborbital spaceflight ticket holders to practice the zero-g phase with parabolic flights so they can maximize their enjoyment during the five minutes at the apogee of their flight.
- To include training as part of the whole experience of the spaceflight, which is very expensive at this early stage.
These all seem perfectly reasonable to me and I expect training to remain a part of suborbital adventure spaceflights even if its true that most people would survive a suborbital space flight without it.
